“National’s recommitment to dumping three waters is a good start, ACT says it must happen with a repeal bill in the first 100 days of a new Parliament, backed up by a plan to pay for it,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“As ACT has said throughout the three waters saga, if Labour steals it, ACT will repeal it. That means repeal legislation to return assets to councils in the first 100 days as I laid out in my conference speech of July last year.

“It is essential that infrastructure assets built up over generations by ratepayers remain under the democratic control of their local council. There is no place for co-governance of three waters. Three waters infrastructure was created after 1840 so cannot be part of any treaty settlement.

“Then there’s the detail. Councils fundamentally don’t have the funds for three waters. That is why Labour’s reforms won’t work. They are promising the same ratepayers, with the same pipes, will solve the same problems. That doesn’t add up, there needs to be another factor introduced.

“That factor is revenue sharing from central government. ACT has campaigned for years on sharing half the GST collected on construction activity in a region with the local council. ACT's Housing Spokesperson and Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden’s member's bill would require the government to share half the revenue collected on construction in a region with the local council.

“van Velden’s Bill is currently on the order paper, to be debated this year. Brooke welcome’s National’s intended support for the bill, as well as the Greens. It is an idea whose time has come.

“ACT has also costed the policy. Our fully-costed Alternative Budget for Real Change allocates over half a billion dollars every year to supporting Councils with infrastructure. That would go a very long way to funding the infrastructure deficit.

“ACT’s further plan of 30-year regional infrastructure partnerships between central and local government would take the politics out of infrastructure. It would give central government and local government certainty, but most importantly it would give a coordinated approach delivering value for taxpayers and ratepayers through council-owned assets.

“Further detail is still required. ACT supports keeping a neutral referee for water quality. It is not right that Councils run three waters infrastructure, but can simply issue discharge consents when their infrastructure leaks sewerage into the sea. Taumata Arowai should stay, but the divisive and undemocratic te mana o te wai statements should be removed from the legislation.

“Today’s announcement show ACT and National as a government in waiting with a coordinated plan, and ACT as an essential part of that new government. Our role is to supply the political will and detailed policy work so that National’s promises actually happen."

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